Biographical Data :

Known for the `Golden Age' of Spain Caliph Abd al-Rahman ruled for forty-nine years. He was also a great builder of many palaces and mosques.

Cordoba (his capital) had miles of paved streets illuminated by lights whereas "100 years after this time there was not one public lamp in London". ‘Cordoba’s Library’ contained over 400,000 volumes at a time when the largest library in Christian Europe numbered merely 400 manuscripts. There were also 70 other smaller libraries in Cordoba. The Caliph had a Jew as his foreign minister and a Greek bishop in his diplomatic corps.